kuju | Japanese Countryside Travel Notes

2025-06-18

Mount Kuju, a mass of multiple volcanoes, loves sweets

climbing19 hossho mountain and nishisenrigahama

Mount Kuju is a place where you can enjoy a leisurely day of mountain hiking without having to stay overnight. However, here I would like to introduce a short 2-hour round trip trek to Mount Kuju, which shows off enough a variety of different faces, and the rewards that are well worth it.

climbing1 start from makinoto mountain pass

I would like to see the whole mountain covered in pink Kirishima Azalea flowers in May or June, but I have heard that the mountain gets congested. In the end, I end up just taking pictures of the line of climbers that stands out against the pink mountain. So this time, I went in late October to search for autumn leaves.

The easiest way to get to the summit is from Makinoto Pass along th road, which gives you the highest altitude possible as the starting point.

climbing2

climbing5 waita mountain like Mt.Fuji

climbing6 kutsukake mountain

climbing10 goal of kutsukake mountain

At first, the mountain trail is a long, gradual concrete slope that can be tiring. However, you can get past this point and head towards Mount Kutsukake.

climbing7 iida hights and yufudake over there

climbing9 aso mountains

Along the way, you can see Mt. Yufudake and the Aso mountain range, and at the end you can enjoy the autumn foliage of Mt. Hossho and Ohgigahana. I didn’t see anyone wearing high heels up here, but you can climb in normal shoes. The area around the summit of Mt. Kutsukake is full of rocks, but after that the trail continues along a gentle ridge. If you have the stamina and time, you can go a little further.

climbing11

climbing18 mitsumata mountain from kutsukake mountain

climbing19 hossho mountain and nishisenrigahama

climbing20 ohgigahana

A detour or a reward (Sweets Restaurant)

Return to Makinoto Pass and head south, cross the pass and the Aso mountain range will come into view, and you will then see Chez Tani Senomoto-Kogen store. The view of the Aso mountain range from the full-length windows is a sight to behold, but the 90-minute cake buffet for 3,300 yen is a menu that will make you forget all about it – a menu that is sure to satisfy any desire. If you can’t do something like that, the 1500 yen 2 cakes set with drinks is enough. The cake portions are too big, so you forget to enjoy the view.

chez tani mo mo roll

chez tani pudding

chez tani grape yogurt mousse

chez tani fruit cake

2025-06-14

Yamanami Highway is Mountain wave itself

The Yamanami Highway is a road that connects Yufuin to Aso, passing through the Kuju mountain range. The scenery overlooking the mountain range changes rapidly, and the road has moderate curves, so you can enjoy an exhilarating drive while listening to music. Along the way, stop at the observation deck where you can get a full view of Mt. Yufu-dake. Mt. Yufu-dake is also known as Bungo Fuji, and its summit is made up of two well-balanced peaks. Although it is different from the shape of Mount Fuji that is generally associated with it, the Mount Fuji as it is called in various regions is probably a mountain that constitutes a representative mental landscape of each region.

yamanami highway1

yamanami highway2 yufudake

yamanami highway3 mitumata mountain

yamanami highway4 evening sun on kuju mountain

Just because you’re not driving doesn’t mean you should fall asleep. This is a route where you should enjoy the beauty of mountain waves. It’s especially amazing to pass through the Kuju mountain range to the south and see the Aso mountain range in the sunset from the pass.

yamanami highway5 aso view left

yamanami highway6 aso view right

We descend the mountain and head towards my usual lodging, Kurokawa Onsen Sanga, as the silver grass sways and sparkles towards the sunset. I came here again looking forward to the food. I apologize for the photos being all about food. But every dish and its tableware is a work of art.

Kurokawa Hotspring “Sanga”

kurokawasanga1

kurokawasanga2

kurokawasanga3

kurokawasanga dinner1

kurokawasanga dinner2

kurokawasanga dinner4

2024-02-09

Laputa (Ghibli) is not the only castle in the sky

The next morning, the mountain road leading back to the Yamanami Highway was a tunnel of autumn leaves, shining brightly.

kuju highway0

kuju highway1

kuju highway2

kuju highway3 kuju hightland

kuju highway4 kuju mountains view

On the road to Taketa City, I come across a light truck with an elegant English Pointer on its back. The pointer on the loading platform does not look at me easily. He is balanced well on the carrier.

kuju highway5 wow!

kuju highway6

kuju highway7 eye contact

Meanwhile, I arrived at Taketa. I didn’t have enough time to visit the old town (>refer to the post in the near future), so I headed straight to Oka Castle. This castle was the setting for “Kojo no Tsuki” (“The moon over the ruined castle” in English) composed by Rentaro Taki who spent his childhood here. It’s interesting that the admission ticket comes in the form of an old period scroll with a guide map of Oka Castle, but it gets in the way and is inconvenient when it comes to taking it home. Although only the stone walls remain of this mountain castle, the stonework is beautiful and draws a parabolic curve.

oka castle2 entrance

oka castle4

oka castle7 why need complicate design

oka castle9 do not the same thing — Do not the same thing

Since there is no protective fence, you can sit on the protruding tip of the stone wall, but it doesn’t feel like you’re alive. It feels like my lower abdomen is falling out. Those with a strong heart can admire the beautiful Kuju Mountain Range from here. There are several castles in the sky floating in the morning mist in Japan, but Oka Castle, which appears out of nowhere amidst layers of mountains, is a true Ghibli castle in the sky.

2024-02-052024-02-09

Giant Suspension Bridge and unrelated snake spectacle

I used to think that suspension bridges were built out of necessity, but seeing this made me realize that they were purposely built in places where they didn’t need to be built, just to make people feel scary. Many people walk on the suspension bridge, which looks just like a wide pedestrian bridge. Although the suspension bridge uses fairly thick wire rope, you can still feel some sway. There is a magnificent waterfall that can only be seen from here, but the scale of the view from the suspension bridge is so large that the waterfall feels small.

johgakura bridge

look down from bridge 1

nakatsugawa valley bridge

There are also places in the Tohoku region where the views from bridges are dynamic. Johgakura Bridge in Aomori Prefecture is a good place to stop by on your way to the Shirakami Mountain Range and Lake Towada as above photos. It’s also a good idea to stop by the bridge that spans the Nakatsugawa Valley in Fukushima Prefecture near Goshikinuma on Mt. Bandai.

suspension bridge5

suspension bridge2

suspension bridge1

Once you cross the suspension bridge, you will see a building that looks like a haunted house at the festival venue. In front of the house, there was a crowd of people who seemed to be hesitating whether to enter or not. This place holds a spectacle where customers can touch and hold white snakes in hopes of attracting financial luck. I was reluctant to enter, but my companion was blinded by financial fortune and we decided to enter.

suspension bridge6 white snake named toguro

suspension bridge7 white snake named makitsuki

When I pay, the thick curtain in front of me opens and I come face to face with two white snakes. One of them is called “Toguro,” which coils itself on my hand, and the other is “Makitsuki,” which wraps around my arm.” No matter who holds them, these snakes maintain the same posture as their namesake, so these must be their favorite poses. The touch was unlike anything I had ever felt before, neither cold nor warm, and I was filled with the desire to return them as soon as possible. In the end, it was the people at the show booths who were lucky to make money.

Detour

Tonight we will be staying at Kiyasuya in Sujiyu Onsen, but Sujiyu Onsen is also home to a famous public bathhouse “Utase-yu.” The name Sujiyu originally came from the fact that the hot spring ingredients are effective for soothing tired muscles, but the public bath is an ultimate hot spring where the hot spring water is dropped from a height of about 3 meters to soothe the body.